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Blueberry Maple Oat Bars

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These blueberry bars are the perfect summer dessert! The lemon juice adds a layer of freshness, the oats keep them chewy and the maple syrup adds a rich, sticky sweetness. Serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and eat it outside.

This recipe calls for 1 cup of oat flour, which you can easily sub for regular flour, but I made it by grinding up 1 1/4 cup oats in a food processor until it was the texture of flour! Very easy to do.

Honestly, the hardest part of this recipe is waiting for it to cool once it comes out of the oven. Don’t try to cut into bars until it has cooled completely!

Ingredients

For the oat layers

  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1 cup oat flour (or other flour)
  • 3/4 cup oats
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the blueberry filling

  • 2 cups blueberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • Juice from 1 lemon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for oat mixture with a rubber spatula
  3. Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray
  4. Divide the oat mixture in half and layer one half on the bottom of the pan
  5. In a separate bowl, combine ingredients for blueberry filling
  6. Layer blueberry mixture over oat layer in the baking dish
  7. Layer remaining oat mixture over blueberry mixture
  8. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown (blueberry mixture should be bubbling)
  9. Allow to cool completely in baking dish before transferring to a platter
  10. Cut into 8 pieces, serve with ice cream!

Macadamia Cashew Chicken Wraps

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Before I start, this recipe requires a bit more prep time than the ones I usually post. You have to dice up the chicken into bite-size pieces which took me ~10 minutes to do and, if you’re anything like me, handling raw chicken for that long isn’t very appealing. BUT, this recipe is worth it. Trust me, I don’t mess with raw chicken for just anything.

The flavors and textures of the macadamia nuts, cashews, chicken, and vegetables combine into perfect bites. The amount of sauce is just right for the lettuce wraps (coats it well but no sauce squeezing out and causing a mess) but if you choose to serve this over rice instead, I would suggest making a little extra sauce.

I used romaine leaves because that’s what I had on hand but iceberg or butter lettuce may make it slightly easier to eat.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb chicken breasts
  • 3 tablespoons corn starch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups broccoli florets
  • 1 cup diced red bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1/2 cup roasted macadamia nuts
  • 1/2 cup roasted cashews
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 8 large romaine leaves

Directions

  1. Dice chicken breasts into bite-size pieces
  2. Transfer into a large ziplock and add cornstarch, salt and pepper. Seal and toss until coated
  3. In a large skillet, heat sesame oil and olive oil. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink
  4. Once chicken is mostly cooked, add broccoli, onion and peppers and cook for additional 5 minutes
  5. While the vegetables are cooking, roughly chop cashews and macadamia nuts and add to skillet
  6. Combine soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sriracha, maple syrup and garlic in a small bowl and pour into skillet
  7. Cook in sauce for additional 2-3 minutes
  8. Prepare the romaine leaves — cut off stem, wash and dry
  9. Evenly distribute chicken mixture into romaine leaves
  10. Serve warm!

Baked Spaghetti Squash

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This baked spaghetti squash is one of my favorite recipes to make. It’s healthy but doesn’t taste too healthy which, in my opinion, is the perfect recipe. I like to include onion and broccoli but this would also be great with peppers, zucchini or any other vegetables you have at home. The Italian sausage gives it a ton of flavor and slight spice but you can easily sub in ground turkey or ground beef. The egg provides it a little extra protein while binding everything together and the melted mozzarella gives it a great crunchy top! I made this recipe to be half dairy-free so one side had dairy-free mozzarella which you can clearly see from the photos– turns out, it doesn’t melt quite the same!

This recipe would be great for dinner parties or to serve a crowd because it has to bake for an hour. You can prep any sides you’re serving with it or spend time with your guests and all you do is pull it out, let it rest for a few minutes and serve it warm! It also makes great leftovers! I made this to share with one other person and am stoked to have leftovers for lunch for the next few days.

Left- non-dairy mozzarella. Right- regular mozzarella

Total Time Required: 2 hours

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 spaghetti squash
  • 1 lb (4 links) Italian sausage, removed from casing (I used pre-cooked)
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • 1 cup broccoli florets
  • 1 cup pizza sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 3 eggs, whisked
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  • Salt & pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Carefully cut spaghetti squash in half long-ways (I first make small slices along the line I want to cut- makes it much easier!)
  3. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to cut-side of both halves
  4. Place spaghetti squash cut-side down on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes (lower oven temperature to 350 when the squash comes out)
  5. Heat olive oil in a large pan and add onion and broccoli
  6. Once onion and broccoli have browned slightly, add Italian sausage and cook for 3-5 minutes (if not pre-cooked, cook until no pink remains)
  7. Add pizza sauce, thyme, salt and pepper and allow to simmer for a few minutes
  8. Once the spaghetti squash is cool enough, use a fork to remove strands and place in a greased 9×12 baking dish
  9. Pour pizza sauce mixture over spaghetti squash and mix together
  10. Add in whisked eggs and combine thoroughly
  11. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top
  12. Bake for an hour at 350
  13. Allow to rest for a few minutes before slicing and enjoy!

Chocolate Cake with Strawberries

Published on by The Pesto Monster1 Comment

I made this cake for a friend’s birthday recently and it was a hit! The cake has a rich chocolate flavor so pairing it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream lightens it up quite a bit and gives it more of a summery feel.

Chocolate Cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time Required: 1 hour

Yields: 10-12 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups cane sugar
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder
  • 1 cup milk (I used almond)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray
  2. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder in a large bowl (bowl of a stand mixer if available)
  3. Bring one cup of water to a boil
  4. While the water is heating, add milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla to dry mixture and beat on medium speed until well combined
  5. Carefully mix in the boiling water
  6. Pour batter evenly into the two greased cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, rotating the cakes halfway through
  7. Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to cooling racks
  8. Frost when cakes are completely cool

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Total Time Required: 10 minutes

Yields: enough for 1 cake (potentially with extra)

Ingredients

  • 3 sticks butter (1 1/2 cup), softened
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 5 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk (I used almond)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder

Directions

  1. Cream together butter and cocoa powder until smooth
  2. Add sugar and milk and mix on high speed
  3. Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and mix until combined
  4. Frosting should be thick and hold form but should not dry
  5. Refrigerate until cake is ready to frost

Whipped Cream

Total Time Required: 10 minutes

Yields: 2 cups whipped cream

Ingredients

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

Directions

  1. Add heavy whipping cream to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until peaks form
  2. Beat in vanilla and confectioners sugar for additional 30 seconds
  3. Refrigerate and serve cold!

Frost cake once completely cool. Decorate with sliced strawberries.

Serve cake with sliced strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream.

Caprese Salad

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A Caprese salad is the perfect summer side and with only a few ingredients, comes together in under 10 minutes! This salad is always a crowdpleaser and pairs well with a variety of main dishes. We had this with steak on the grill and orzo with pesto.

Total Time Required: 10 minutes

Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

  • 6 tomatoes
  • 16 oz mozzarella
  • 10-15 basil leaves
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Balsamic Glaze (optional)

Directions

  1. Slice tomatoes and mozzarella into discs with relatively even widths
  2. On a platter, alternate laying tomato, mozzarella and basil (either one small leaf or half of a larger leaf)
  3. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze and season with salt & pepper
  4. Serve cold and enjoy!